Soot shield for chimneys



March 29, 1960 P. P. BLACK 2,930,303

SOOT SHIELD FOR CHIMNEYS Filed Dec. 29, 1958 Y S Sheets-Sheet l FIG 'INVENTOR. PETER P. BLACK March 29, 1960 Filed Dec. 29, 1958 P. P. BLACKSOOT SHIELD FOR CHIMNEYS 3 SheetSPSheef 2 PETER P. BLACK INVENTOR.

March 29, 1960 P. P. BLACK 2,930,308

soo'r SHIELD FOR CHIMNEYS Filed Dec. 29, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 9

PETER P. BLACK INVENTOR.

SOOT SHIELD FOR CHIMNEYS Peter P. Black, Tacoma, Wash.

' Application December 29, 1958, Serial No. 783,368

4 Claims. (Cl. 9867) This present invention relates to chimneys of thetype normally carrying soot laden products of combustion upwardly fordissemination in the atmosphere. More particularly, this presentinvention contemplates the provision of means, disposed on the top of achimney and extending outwardly from the flue opening, to catch anysoot'as it starts to descend after it has been carried upwardly by theproducts of combustion passing up through the chimney.

Chimneys used for the upward conveying of products of combustion ofstoves, furnaces, boilers and the like normally carry with them in theirrise, due to draft of the chimney, many products which, especially inthe presence of rain water, tend to collect on the outside of thechimney and to be gradually washed down. Such products, and admixture inaddition to the soot which is usually present in the form of freecarbon, may also consist of ash and many other unburnt residues of thecombustion and these when mixed with moisture from the atmospheregradually give the chimney an unsightly, streaked, discoloredappearance. Soot is one of the dominant materials that is most to beguarded against for these reasons but there are many other chemicalcompounds which when combined with water tend to make bleaches ordiscoloring solutions especially when they enter into chemicalcombinations with the materials of the chimney. In the past manyattempts have been made to overcome this undesirable condition and mypresent invention is of this general class of devices but has beenprovided with a means not only for collecting the discolon'ng materialsbut also to direct or conduct them away from the outside of the chimneyso that they in no way deface the chimney.

The principal object of this invention therefore is to provide acollecting shield for chimney tops so as to prevent soot and othercontaminants from coming to rest on the outer wall of the chimney.

A further object of this invention is to provide means whereby waterbearing soot and other similar materials, collected from the top of achimney, will be conducted away from the outer face of the chimney to apoint of selected discharge.

A further object of this invention is to provide upward- 1y slopingwalls, extending entirely around the flue opening of the chimney andextending outwardly therefrom, which will collect soot, debris and waterand direct them away from the outer wall of the chimney.

Further objects, advantages and capabilities will be apparent from thedescription and disclosure in the drawings, or may be comprehended orare inherent in the 2 is a side elevation, partly in section,showing iceFigures 3 and 4 are fragmentary, vertical, sectional views through theupper margin of a shield of the type shown in Figure 1 but illustratingvarious adaptations of this shield to various chimney arrangements.

Figure 5 is a vertical, sectional view, in fragmentary form, of aportion of a chimney and illustrating the use of my soot shieldtherewith.

Figures 6, 7 and 8 are fragmentary views in perspective, illustratingthe top margin of a chimney and showing various means of securing drainmeans for my shield.

Figure 9 is a vertical side view of a tall chimney, which is broken awayin order to increase the scale of the features of present interest, andillustrating a means for conducting water bearing soot and the like awayfrom my soot collecting shield to a point of convenient disposal.

Figure 10 is a perspective view of a downdraft preventer which isparticularly well adapted for association with my soot shield for thedeflecting of soot and like materials.

Referring to the drawings, throughout which like reference numeralsindicate like parts, the numeral 12 designates generally my basicshield. The shield consists of a flat base portion 14 of a size to goaround the flue opening of a chimney and to rest on top of the chimneystructure indicated at 16. This metal base, which is normally made ofsheet metal in its smaller sizes, or sheet steel or cast metal in thelarger sizes, may be secured to the top face of a chimney in anyconvenient manner. One such means is shown particularly in Figures 3 and4 and consists of an insert as 18 which may be seated into the mortarjoint or in a hole formed in the upper bricks or chimney top materialand into which expansion screws or bolts 20 may be threadedly engaged.

Shield 12 is preferably provided with a downwardly directed rim orflange portion 24 which provides a very satisfactory means ofpositioning the shield on the top of the chimney and prevents itsmovement across the face of the flue. A centering flange 24 may bearranged that the base member as 14 fit the top of the chimney. and notextend appreciably into the flue opening of the chimney.

Disposed around the outer margin or periphery of base portion 14 isanoutwardly extending and upwardly sloping margin providing a funnelwall 30. As will be observed in the various views showing the tops ofthe chimneys, the sloping margin or rim 30 extends out beyond thevertical projection of the chimneywall and this is'a verydesirable-arrangement in that much soot which might tend to roll downthe chimney face is thus arrested. f his to be noted, that withthesloping rim starting at or outwardly from the outer face of thechimney wall and the inner flange extending downwardly at the insidemargin of the flue opening of the chimney, there is no opportunity forwater that may collect at the top of the chimney, and be contaminated bysoot or n other like materials, to spill over the upper margin of;

the chimney and run down the outer face of the chimney.

Itwill thus be observed that the shield serves two real;

purposes, one to arrest soot andthe like as it is discharged from thetop of the flue and secondly any water; that has been discolored fromcoming to rest onthe top of the chimney will be collected by the shieldso, that it may be conducted away from, the outer margin of the chimney.i

Co'acting with my base portion 14 is a second wall Patented Mar. 29,1960,

forming an inwardly sloping shield 40, extending appreciably above thelevel of the top of funnel rim 30, which also serves a dual purpose.Somewhat similar arrangements have been used in the past as downdraftpreventers. However, the same downdraft control facility is very helpfulin the collecting of soot and like lightweight materials that have beencarried upward by the products of combustion passing through the chimneyflue 44. It has been determined by observation and tests that the gasespassing up through the chimney are moving at considerable speed, due tothe draft within the chimney, and as they pass up tend to expand as soonas they pass over the upper corner of the flue opening as 46. The gases,expanding into the increased cross sectional space, appear to drop aportion of the soot on the shelf provided at 48, illustrated in Figures3 and 4, and as this accumulates the continuing draft, up the flue,tends to carry the soot up the inside sloping surface of member 40 untilit gets to the upper margin at 50 where it tends to leave the stream ofhot flue gases and find natural lodgment, during windless periods, inthe trough formed by the two oppositely sloping members 30 and 40 andwhich trough extends entirely around the flue opening. During windyperiods the additional height of member 40 discharges the soot above thelevel of the funnel rim Where it will be carried away. One form ofdowndraft preventer is illustrated in Figure and such an arrangement maybe used with my present soot shield. The opening 42, at the top of thedraft control means 40, should be substantially the size and shape ofthe opening of flue 44. A preferred arrangement however is to havemember 40 fixedly secured to or made as a part of the flat base portion14 so that a water and soot collecting trough or gutter is formed whichthen can be easily drained by suitable means and the mixed water andsoot conducted away so that it cannot contaminate the outer wall of thechimney.

The method of draining trough 50 will of necessity have to follow thedesign of the chimney with which it is used. In the more conventionalpresent day chimneys there is normally a separate flue lining as 26,made of refractory material, which usually gives adequate protection tothe brick or other chimney materials and, to provide a safer chimney, aspace as 52 is normally provided around the flue lining and inside thebrick 54 of the chimney construction proper. In many instances, thewater and soot collected can be discharged into this flue lining spaceand allowed to go down the space until the bottom is reached where itcan normally be conducted away with suitable piping. The water may bedischarged into space 52 as through a plurality of openings 56 in member40 or one or more openings 57 in base 14 or by other arrangementsillustrated.

For many types of chimneys, the drains may consist of an actual pipe orusually a copper tube, because of the ease of installation. Asillustrated in Figure 5, a tube 60 is used, which passes through opening57 in the bottom of base 14 and is usually provided with a screen as 62to prevent leaves and the like from passing down into the relativelysmall tube and blocking it. Other means are shown in Figure 6 wherein aflattened tube as 64 is placed in the mortar joint between adjacentbricks as 66 and 67. These bricks with others, completing the rim aroundthe flue opening, serve as dead weight holding means for the sootcollector 12. They may be bonded to the other brick by openings in base14 as is illustrated in Figure 8 at 70.

In Figure 6, the tube discharges into the space between the flue liningand the chimney proper. In Figure 7, tube 74 extends over or through theflue lining an appreciable amount into the flue so that any moisturewill be dropped into the stream of hot gases where it normally will bevaporized and carried away. During periods however when there is nodraft through the flue, means will have to be provided at the bottom ofthe chimney for discharging any water that collects. In Figure 8, anexternal drain pipe is provided. To accommodate this arrangement, it isnormally desirable to have the flat base portion 14 extend outwardlybeyond the chimney face as noted in Figure 8. In Figure 9, I haveillustrated in a broken elevation the arrangement for relatively highchimneys such as used on power plants and the like. Under suchconditions, it is usually not objectionable to employ an exterior drainpipe 84. On very high chimneys where the cleaning out of a dischargepipe as 84 might be somewhat diflicult, I have provided a capped openingat 86 to which a source of air under pressure may be connected so thatpipe 84 may be cleaned by blowing air under pressure through the same.Under such conditions, it is desirable to employ a valve at 88 so thatthe full force of air under pressure will be directed upwardly and notout the normal drain discharge fitting, which the valve displaces inFigure 9. Pipe portion 90 serves only as a lightning ground.

My chimney shield, disposed normally at the top of the chimney, acts asan excellent lightning collector if it is grounded as indicated at 87.It is therefore very desirable to have the shield and all drain pipes,as 60, 80 and 84, made of electric current conductive material and thatthe pipes be properly grounded, where no drain pipes reaching to groundare employed. As in the forms shown in Figures 6 and 7, a metal wire 71may be employed. The wire should be fixedly secured and electricallybonded to shield body 12 and then the wire led to an adequate ground. InFigure 9 lightning rods are employed. These may be bonded to shield base12 or connected directly to metal pipe 84 which should be electricallyconnected to pipe 99 and which in turn should be led to an adequateground.

It is believed that it will be clearly apparent from the abovedescription and the disclosure in the drawings that the inventioncomprehends a novel construction of a soot shield for chimneys.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. A soot shield for chimneys, comprising: a fiat, metal base portionadapted to be secured to the top of a chimney and cover the outer marginthereof; said base portion having a flue opening in its central portionsubstantially equal in size to the smoke opening of the chimney withwhich it is used; an outwardly extending and upwardly directed slopingfunnel wall disposed around the periphery of said base portion; a secondwall secured on said base portion having a sloping wall extendingupwardly above the top of said funnel wall and inwardly to provide asmoke opening equal, substantially to the size of the flue opening ofsaid base portion and encircling said flue opening; said second walldisposed inside of said sloping margin and in spaced relationshipthereto, to coact with said funnel wall to provide soot dissipating eddycurrents and a water and soot collecting trough and drain meansconnected to said base portion to drain said trough disposed to carrythe water and admixtures away and prevent them running down the outerwall of said chimney.

2. A soot shield for chimneys, comprising: a flat, metal base portionadapted to be secured to the top of the chimney; said base portionhaving a flue opening in its central portion substantially equal in sizeto the smoke flue of the chimney with which it is to be used; anoutwardly extending and upwardly directed sloping funnel wall disposedaround the periphery of said base portion; a downdraft preventer securedon said base portion having a sloping wall extending upwardly above theheight of said funnel wall and inwardly to provide a smoke openingequal, substantially to the size of said flue opening and encirclingsaid flue opening; said downdraft preventer disposed inside of saidsloping margin and in spaced relationship thereto, disposed to coactwith said flange to provide a water and soot collecting trough anddrainv means connected to said base portion to drain said trough andadapted to dispose of said water and soot below the visible outer wallsof said chimney.

3. A soot shield for chimneys, comprising: a fiat, metal base portionadapted to be secured to the top of a chimney and in close contact withthe outer margin thereof; said base portion having a flueopening in itscentral portion and a centering flange disposed around said flue openingand downwardly directed; an outwardly extending and upwardly directedsloping funnel wall disposed around the periphery of said base portion;a second wall secured on said base portion having a sloping wallextending upwardly above said funnel wall and inwardly to provide asmoke opening equal substantially to the size of said flue opening, andencircling said flue opening; said second wall disposed inside of saidsloping funnel wall and in spaced relationship thereto and drainopenings in the lower margin of said second wall adapted to dischargeinto said chimney at points removed from the outer walls thereof.

4. A soot shield for chimneys, comprising: a fiat, metal metal baseportion adapted to be secured to the top of a chimney and cover theouter margin thereof; said base portion having a flue opening in itscentral portion subing shield; a row of bricks laid in mortar aroundsaid flue opening and on said base portion within the funnel wall;

a plurality of openings in said base portion to permit mortar bondingsaid bricks, in said row to the bricks forming the top of said chimney;said row of bricks forming with said funnel wall a water and sootcollecting trough and a drain tube adapted to drain saidtrough andconduct the water and soot away from the exterior walls 7 of saidchimney.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS319,750 Sexton June 9, 1885 377,508 Wright Feb. 7, 1 888 627,775Faulstich June 27, 1899 850,126 Bayley Apr. 16, 1907' 2,501,011 1950Smart Mar. 21,

